Chanelle Pharma, the Galway-based maker of generic medicines for animal and human use set up by vet Michael Burke, is a step closer to finding new owners, according to weekend media reports.

The Sunday Times said the company is on track to be sold to private equity firm Exponent in a deal worth around €300m.

That would be €100m lower than the price the drug maker was said to be seeking when it hired investment bank Rothschild to find a potential buyer last year.

The Chanelle group engaged in a corporate restructuring exercise in recent years in order to simplify the business and prepare it for sale. Among the measures taken was the winding up of Chanelle Provet plc and the purchase by Michael Burke of bloodstock and investments valued at €2.6m.

Accounts

Chanelle Pharmeceuticals Manufacturing Ltd, a subsidiary of Chanelle Pharma Ltd, is the only significant portion of the business for which accounts are available.

In the year to April 2022, that company made a profit before tax of €17.2m, up from €12.7m a year earlier.

Exponent, the London-based private equity company, opened an office in Dublin in November of last year, which the company said underscores its “long-standing commitment to investing into Ireland”.

Exponent currently has several investments in Ireland, including the 2022 purchase of a majority stake in H&MV Engineering in Limerick.

H&MV announced plans to double its global workforce to 1,400 and open a new global headquarters in Limerick last year.